Boiler tube cleaner



I June 16, 1931. H. L. STALEY 1301mm TUBE CLEANER Filed March 21. 1928 Mx. INVENTOR.

Patented June :16; 1931 i; UNITED PATENT? oiFF'rcnf HARRISON I1. STALEY;or MAit'rINsvILLn; INDIANA BOILER TUBE CLEANER Application filed March21, 1928. Serial No. 263,286.

ugal pressure on the cutting member against the scale, and 3, to providea cleaner with parts so arranged and secured together that any portionof it may be easily removed and replaced when found necessary.

With these and other desirable objects in view, attention is directed tothe accompanying drawings in. which'Figure 1 is a side elevation of theassembled head in closed position; Figure2 a front view of the cleanerFigure 3 a sectional view on lineAA in Figure 1 with slidingframesexpanded; Figure 4: is a perspective view. of the body;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of thesliding frame and Figure 6 aperspective view of a link.

to the space between thebars 5 making in fact one extending slot in-thebody in which a pair of outwardlysliding frames 6 carrying rotatabletoothed cutters are movably mounted. The longitudinal slots in the fronthead member are-further: connected by a transverse slot 7 across theface thereof to 5" afford facilities for housing thelinks 8 whichprovide means for limiting the outward movement of the frames 6. 'Thebody is further provided with a centrally located hub 9 preferablythreaded internally for attaching thereto the driving mechanism.

Centrally located on the web or tie bar 10 is a fixed stud 11 whichprojects forwardly of the body to engageslots 23 of the links 8. I findit necessary because of the very great vibration to which the cleaner issubjected,

to reinforce or brace the free'end of the stud i by providing 011 thebody two forwardly extending cars 12 on each side of the forwardtransverse slot 7 and parallel to said stud with holes therein inalignment with hole in the stud for, receiving the cotter 13. In

actual operation I have found that this cotter keeps the .stud fromworking loose from vibration or jar.

The slidable frames6 are preferably bifurcated, the arm members 14, 15thereon having apertures for receiving cutter bolts or pins 16 on whichare mounted rotatable toothed .cutter wheels. It is desirable that thesebolts be headed and carry conical shaped cutters 17 between the head andthe link'8 thereon and cylindrical cutters 18 between the arm membersand that the ends of the bolts be screw threaded to engage the threadedhole of the arm member-14.

To carry out one; of the objects of my invention, the inward portions ofthe slidable frames are reduced in thickness longitudinally so that whenmounted in the body they will have overlapping engagement. It will thusbe'seen by this arrangement of parts that broad areas can be given thesliding surfaces. of-the frames in a body of small diameter. Since it isnecessary that theframes have freedom, of radial movement, the combinedthickness of the overlapping portion should be slightly less than the.width of the engaga ing transverse slot. Ahead 20 onthe frame extendsforward of the tie bar 10 to prevent locking of the link 8 against saidtie bar when the cutter bolts are seated in the frames. In closedposition the overlapping parts of the frames engage shoulders 19 and thehead 20 engages the tie bar 10. I find it desirable to reduce the widthof the web 21 and to taper the edges thereof inwardly to preventinterference with cutters 18 when the frames are in closed position.

The outward movement of the frames 6 are limited by links 8. These linksare provided with overlapping ends of reduced thickness and hole 22 forreceiving the cutter bolt 16 and a long slotted hole 23 to engage thestud 11. The diameter of the slot 23 should be greater than the stud 11so that any lateral movement of the links caused by vibration will becarried by the sidewalls of the transverse slot 7 instead of by thestud.

In assembling the cleaner, links 8 are.

mounted on the stud 11 and the cotter 13 passed through the aligningholes. Frames 6 are then movably secured in the transverse slot of thebody from each side thereof with the straight side of the frame membersengaging the farther side of the said transverse slot as related to itsdirection'of rotation. Cutters and links are then assembled on the bolts16 in theirrespective relations and the bolts seated securely in theframes.

*In this novel arrangement and relation of parts, I have discoveredfacilities whereby any part can be easily removed and replaced by a newpart when necessary.

I have also discovered that in making the slide frame bifurcated and inone piece and slidably mounting it in an extending slot in the body,strain on the cutter bolt and frame is removed and less breakagesthereof occur.

I have further discovered that when a head of this type strikes aprojecting piece of scale,

resistance to inward movement of the frame is offered by the frictionproduced by the arm members pressing against the sides of the extendingtransverse slot and that this frictional resistance to inward movementgreatly increases the cutting speed and effectiveness of the cleaner. I

I do not wish to confine myself to the exact construction andarrangement of parts as herein described to attain these desirableresults, since it is apparent that changes in details may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as definedin the appended claims.

I claim as new:

1. A tube cleaner comprising a body having a longitudinally extendingtransverse slot I through the body thereof, a pair of overlapping framesslidably mounted in the transverse slot and toothed cutters rotatablysecured in said frames substantially as described.

2. In a tube cleaner, the combination of a body adapted to be rotatedhaving a longitudinally extending transverse slot therethrough, a pairof overlapping slidable frames movably secured in the transverse bars,transverse slots through the head members connecting said longitudinalslots, a pair of outwardly sliding overlapping frames engaging thetransverse slot, bolts secured in the sliding frames and cutters mountedrotatably thereon.

4:. A tube cleaner comprising a rotary body, a transverse slot throughthe body, a pair of overlapping bifurcated frames carrying toothedcutters removably mounted in the transverse slot to slide outwardly, andmeans for limiting the outward movement of the frames thereof.

5. In a tube cleaner the combination of a body, a pair of outwardlysliding frames removably mounted in the body said frames having frontand rear arm members, bolts removably secured in the arm members,rotatable cutters mounted on the bolts, 2. fixed stud extendingforwardly of the body, slotted links engaging both the bolts and saidstud to limit the outward movement of the arms, substantially asdescribed.

6. The combination of a body adapted to be rotated having front and rearhead members connected by two longitudinally extending parallel bars,outwardly sliding frames, carrying bolts with rotatable cutters thereonand movably secured between said bars, 0ppositely disposed longitudinalslots in the head members, a transverse slot across the face of thefront head member connecting the longitudinal slots therein, a tie barin the front head, a stud secured to the tie bar and extending forwardlyin said transverse slot, slotted link members secured to the cutterbolts and engaging the fixed stud, forwardly projecting ears on thefront head member, and a pin to pass through the aligning holes in thefixed stud and projecting ears to secure the links in said transverseslot substantially as described.

7. A tube cleaner comprising a rotary body having a longitudinallydisposed transverse slot therethrough, a pair of frames carryingrotatable toothed cutters slidably mounted in said transverse slot andmeans for limiting the outward movement of the frames thereof, saidmeans consisting of a fixed stud secured to the body and slotted linksengaging said stud and said slidable frames.

8. A tube cleaner comprising a rotary body, slidable frames mounted inthe body and extending inwardly beyond the axis of rotation of saidbody, rotatable cutters mounted in 7 said frames and means for limitingthe. out-r Ward movement of said frames substantially as described.

9. A-tube cleaner having a body adapted to be rotated having alongitudinally extending transverse slot through the body,overlappingframes having their overlapping portions reduced in thickness andslidably mounted in. the r transverse slot; rotatable toothed cuttersmounted on the frames and means for limitingtheoutward movement of saidframes.

HARRISON L. STALEY.

